Changes in version 1.1
A few changes to the interface which will hopefully make it easier to use effectively.
The default custom slider settings now set to zero
FAQ file added to ZIP
I guess it’s not really “Frequently Asked Questions” as no-one has asked anything except for the previous post in this thread, so it is really a “Questions that might be asked” file. Anyway, I hope it helps people to use this plug-in effectively and easily.
If anyone does have any questions or any feedback to offer on this plug-in, please just post a reply in this forum thread.
I suppose I had to find one. Line 86 of the FAQ has:
"A. The “Vocal Remover (mono)” setting “cancels out” sound from the cent re of "
i.e. “cent re” instead of “centre”.
The only thing I could think to add to the FAQ:
Q: Why is my output distorting when I use a custom mix? A: The sum of the two %s in one or both channel outputs is in excess of 100%. For example, if the Left output channel had 50% of the original Left channel and 60% of the original Right channel, it would distort.
I’ve reworded that slightly because (depending on the phase of the original left/right channels) distortion may occur, but not always. I’ve also added a related question regarding the “Wide” settings.
Q. Why is my output distorting?
A. The mix of the two %s in one or both channel outputs is in excess of 100%.
For example, if the Left output channel had 50% of the original Left channel
and 60% of the original Right channel, it may distort. This may even occur if
one of the %s is negative. For example, if the Left output channel had +50%
of the original Left channel and -60% of the original Right channel, it could
distort.
Q. Why do the Wide and Extra Wide setting sometimes distort?
A. The Wide setting uses a mix of +100% and -30%.
The Extra Wide setting uses a mix of +100% and -60%.
As described in the previous question this may sometimes produce distortion.
If this occurs ‘Undo’ the effect and try custom settings of +80% L, -30% R for
the New Left Channel and -30% L, 80% R for the New Right Channel.
Since it was recently asked on the forum how to make stereo less wide, I’ve also added a couple of presets for doing so (“Narrow Stereo” and “Extra Narrow”).
The complete list of presets (in addition to “Custom” settings) is now:
Mono (Average)
Mono (Both Left)
Mono (Both Right)
Extra Narrow
Narrow Stereo
Wide Stereo
Extra Wide
Centre to Left
Centre to Right
Swap Left/Right
Vocal Remover (L/R invert)
Vocal Remover (mono)
Invert Left
Invert Right
Thanks, Steve. I found a superfluous “A:” in the new FAQs plus of course you want sometime to add the new “Extra Narrow” and “Narrow Stereo” presets into it. Maybe it would be good to have the presets in the FAQ in the same order as they are in the plug-in?
Might it be better for the ;info line to have “, . Released under GPLv2” in that order?
Looks good. The only consistency query I have is whether the ;info line should say “Released under GPL v2.” as per the latest notch filter or “Released under GPL v.2.” as per Channel Mixer. GNU seem to do without the period after the “v” as per http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html . I’m happy with “Released under GPL v2.”
Added “…” to the name. Now called “Channel Mixer…”
Moved license information up to immediately after the plug-in header (line 9). channel-mixer.ny.zip (3.05 KB)
This suggests a wording change might clarify things for the general user:
"Select 'Use Custom' then set the slider values, or select a preset (slider values are then ignored). Choose 'Debug' to see the preset values that were applied.
Then you can lose all the second paragraph on the ;info line?
I agree that would be a nice feature, but it’s not available in Audacity.
The plug-in runs in “Nyquist” which is a separate thing from Audacity. Nyquist is a programming language that has been embedded into Audacity. The Nyquist code does not run until either the “OK” or “Debug” buttons are pressed so there’s no way that it can have any effect on any of the interface elements. This type of functionality would need to be built into the Audacity code.
Yes that’s better.
The debug window will show Custom settings as well as those for Presets, so I’ve gone with this wording:
"Select 'Use Custom' then set the slider values, or select a preset (slider values are then ignored). Choose 'Debug' to see the values that were applied.
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